Malaysia - GHS Status

Focal points:

Lead agency: Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI)

Ministry of Human Resources– Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) Ministry and Department of Agriculture. Pesticides Board

Ministry of Transport

Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs

Main relevant legislation:

Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 (Act 514) and related CLASS Regulations 2013 (Classification, Labelling and Safety Data Sheets of Hazardous Chemicals)

GHS implementation status

Transport of dangerous goods

Implemented

For international transport of dangerous goods, see “Implementation through international legal instruments, recommendations, codes and guidelines”

For national transport of dangerous goods: The 12th revised edition of the UN Model Regulations has been adopted as a national standard.

Other sectors:

Workplace

Implemented

The Occupational Safety and Health (Classification, Labelling and Safety Data Sheet of Hazardous Chemicals) Regulations 2013 (CLASS Regulations) were published in the Federal Gazette (http://www.federalgazette.agc.gov.my/) on 11 October 2013. They are based on the 3rd revised edition of the GHS (GHS Rev.3).

The CLASS Regulations, promulgated under the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 (Act 514) entered into force on 12 October 2013. They replaced the Occupational Safety and Health (Classification, Packaging and Labelling of Hazardous Chemicals) Regulations 1997 (CPL Regulations) which were in force since April 1997. Suppliers are responsible for the classification, labelling, preparation of Safety Data Sheet, packaging and chemicals inventory information submission. In the regulations, suppliers are defined as persons who supply hazardous chemicals, and include principal suppliers (that is, suppliers who formulate, manufacture, import, recycle or reformulate hazardous chemical chemicals) and subsidiary suppliers (that is, suppliers who repack, distribute or retail hazardous chemicals).

The Department of Occupational Safety and Health issued in 2014 an “Industry Code of Practice on Chemical Classification and Hazard Communication”, based on the 3^rd revised edition of the GHS The Code of Practice is a legally binding document to fulfil the requirements under the Regulations. It was published on the official gazette on 10 June 2014 and a transitional period of one year was given to enable stakeholders to comply with the requirements of CLASS regulations.

The Code consists of four parts:

• Part 1: List of Classified Chemicals
• Part 2: Chemical Classification
• Part 3: Hazard Communication: Labelling and Safety Data Sheet (SDS)
• Part 4: Confidential Business Information (CBI)

An amendment to Part 1 of the code was published on 11 October 2019, updating the list of chemicals classified in accordance with the GHS. The updated list contains GHS classification for 662 chemicals. Listed chemicals shall be classified according to the classification specified in the list unless the supplier has data or other information justifying classification into additional or more severe hazard classes or categories. If the classification provided by the supplier is less stringent than the minimum classification provided in the code of practice, the relevant information and data to support such classification need to be submitted to the Department of Occupational Safety and Health.

Additional tools and information regarding implementation of the CLASS regulations are available on the website of the Department of occupational safety and health.